


Undertale: Haze

by Tsunaamii



Series: Undertale: Haze [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Bauhaus - Freeform, Bernard MT Condensed, Braggodocio, Curlz, Desdemona - Freeform, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Minor Original Character(s), Multi, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-02-25
Packaged: 2018-05-14 13:15:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5745256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsunaamii/pseuds/Tsunaamii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Following the original character: Curlz through her time in the Underworld, experiencing back stories to familiar characters as well as learning about the lives of new ones.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Baby Bones

**Author's Note:**

> For those of you who are familiar with OpiumPastries' Fic: http://archiveofourown.org/works/5014231/chapters/11523997?view_adult=true
> 
> This one is actually somewhat following behind the scenes in that. A few of the parts in my Fic will directly coincide with his, so please read both to get the full Undertale understanding! :P

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Curlz beginning... Skele-family... and stuff!

_The birth of a monster isn’t an amazing feat, it isn’t praise-worthy, it is just as sick and messy as the birth of any other living creature in this vast godforsaken multiverse. But the birth of a monster that isn’t technically ‘living’, now that is something one could be proud of._

 

The roars of a newborn babe echoed the walls of Mt. Ebott, “He’s got quite the set of lungs, doesn’t he?” The new father said nervously as the small bundle was passed to him. His trusted advisor and dearest friend looming behind him in a white trench coat, a permanent smile plastered on his mask-like face. The silent monster only nodded as the massive new parent cradled the babe as though he were made of the most delicate crystal. The horned new mother smiled up at her giant nervous buck and shook her head slowly with a low purring chuckle “Asgore, he wont bite…” she trailed off and waited for the massive King to pull the babe closer with a nervous laugh. “…Yet. He hasn’t any teeth.” Seeing the worried expression on the Kings face brought great fits of laughter to the tired Queen, but soon her expression softened and looked to her Great Goat King “what should we name him, Asgore?”

 

The King looked down at the crying babe and rocked him gently to and fro, “Something to commemorate our becoming a complete family, Tori…” he said ever so gently as to not startle the babe and cause more crying. The Nanny Goat Queen sat for a moment, thoughtfully “Hm… W.D. you recently became a father, yes? What is your child’s name?” The quiet specter of a Skeleton’s head perked and he stepped foreword, handing the Queen a note pad with the name, very stylistically written “Curlz”. The new mother took the note pad and smiled at the name. “You’ve always been so good with naming conventions, W.D., dear.” Asgore agreed silently behind the lanky skeleton and the new mother handed the notebook back to him, with a gentle look, her eyes almost begging. “Do you think you could help a couple of silly young goats name their first child?”

 

The otherwise quite silent Skeleton was taken aback and nodded, pressing a bony finger to his rounded mandible before scribbling something on a separate page of the notepad. Handing it off to his friend and King, Asgore’s muzzle moved; sounding out the name before bleating it out “Asriel” he breathed finally, making Toriel’s own muzzle curl up in a bright smile “fitting for a prince, and the best way to commemorate us becoming one, dear” A light blush crossed the King’s broad cheek fluffs as he passed the newborn babe –now asleep- to Toriel. “Well, once again, W.D. we have you and your family to thank for aiding us in an important decision.”

 

The quiet skeleton scientist held a hand up and shook his head “it is what I am here for, King Dreemur. I must check on my family, though. Please excuse my abrupt leave. Farewell my King and Queen… and happy birthday little Prince.” With a swift movement the odd skeleton moved out of the room and made his way to the lower regions of the castle. The further and further he wandered, the more desolate and licentious… nothing like the gorgeous halls of the castle above. There were rooms where the floor had fallen through into the blackest abyss, the sounds of molten lava from the Hotlands that crept in below the castle faintly mumbling in the abyss. The footfalls of the tall lanky skeletal scientist echoed off the walls, disturbing a family of bat monsters and forcing them to flutter off angrily spitting profanities to him before leaving through a rather large hole in the castle wall. Shaking his head, the skeleton flipped his neighbors off as they flew out as he came to a rather new-looking mechanical metal door with a pin pad and a few other locking mechanisms to prevent any unwanted guests to enter. After scanning his skull, typing in a few numbers and inserting the tiniest amount of a swirl of orange and blue magic into a small slot, the door heavily clunked open and he was greeted by a massive wave of three skele-children and a Lesser Pup. “Bauhaus, Bernard, Braggadocio, what have I said about having Lesser Pup in here, she get’s too excited.” The three skele-children drug the small Lesser Pup off of their father and he seemed to float up off the ground, dusting off his pristine labcoat. “She’s almost done, pap,” Bernard piped up as the other two patted Lesser Pup as they escorted her out of their home. “Good job, Bernard. Have you made sure everything is flowing correctly?” The eerie tall skeleton skated past the young pudgy skeleton towards a room that was glowing with a strange cerulean glow. “I have, but I… got scared when she started melting” the young one whimpered following quickly with his father “No worries, Child. You all did that at first. She lost a very important component; I had to make something out of nothing, just as I had for you three.”

 

The pudgy –or big boned- skele-kid nodded his large head furiously to show his understanding as the door clacked loudly, signaling the other two returning from walking Lesser Pup home. “When will we have a little sister, then, pap?” Bauhaus asked as they walked into the room with a small form floating suspended in a tube. “Soon, children. Get washed up, we will have to present her to King and Queen Dreemur when she is born”. The three hurried off the wash and bleach their bones, the clicking noise of the larger skeleton’s finger bones on the glass “Just a little longer, Curlz. You will be my shining achievement.”

 

A hand landed gently on the taller skeleton’s shoulder, making him jump ever so slightly. Long slender twists of ulna and radii wrapping around his slender frame “D-Desdemona… I didn’t realize you were home,” He whispered gently to her. He spun around and their craniums clacked together gently in a Skeleton kiss. “Yes well, in celebration of the royal Kid’s birth King Dreemur granted the Royal Guard some leave. I couldn’t argue with the Royal Fluff.” She sighed, and W.D. chuckled holding his wife close “Well your beloved daughter is about ready, do you wish to be the first she sees this time around?” The female Royal Guard Captain pulled back and shook her narrow skull slowly “no, it’s best they see me as the disciplinary, not the maternal.” The Skeleton Scientist shrugged and pressed a button on the tube, draining the goop in which the young one was suspended in, any reminisce of skin the child had clinging to her bones was flushed down with the liquid, and gingerly the scientist reached foreword “Curlz. Open your eyes, sweet child”.

 

It was fuzzy at first… but soon the child’s vision cleared up… and as she looked up, drearily and dazed, she saw the face of W.D. Gaster smiling? At her… ‘ _No… he’s a skeleton… I guess he’s just looking at me’_ was her first thought. She hobbled, trying to get up, only to find she had little to no energy to do so. “Hold still, child. Your magic is very weak, you are a newborn after all.” Her eye sockets grew wide as she looked up at this figure, his eyes flashing a gentle wave of cerulean blue magic over her. Her mind grew fuzzy and she collapsed foreword, being caught by his white sleeve clad arms. “She remembered, Wing.” Desdemona said from behind him, crossing her arms over her chest plate. Her Red scarf draping itself over her shoulder as she tilted her head to the side, tapping her red boot on the ground, her blue-plated armored hips tilted to the side. “Yes, Dear. I am aware. They always remember before I give them all of their magic… it’s just how this works. Don’t worry; when she wakes she will be our little Skele-daughter. Just as you’ve always wanted.”

 

The gruff female Skeleton grunted, feeling uneasy about this whole thing before sighing and accepting what her husband was telling her. Who was she to judge? It was her fault they couldn’t have children the conventional way, and it was also her fault wanting children in the first place. Her counterpart’s hand clacked gently as he touched her sharp cheekbone and stroked it down to her mandible. “Des, I promise you. It will be perfectly fine; she will love us just as the boys do.” She leaned her skull into his large hand and her jaw clicked as she tried smiling “I’m just worried. We’ve lost so many… and it’s only ever the girls. I’m afraid the humans will begin to realize the missing children…” W.D. shook his head “…they’ve already made up stories about me in the human world. They will chalk it up to their ‘slenderman’ if they notice their children missing. Plus… it is they that blew the hole in the mountain to send us Monsters down… so think of this as a sacrifice for banishing us here.” The fairer of the two took the young skele-kid into her arms and cradled her, “Yes, I just hope nothing foul comes of it later… Curlz will be our last, Wing. I’m planting something below that hole in the mountain to at least break the children’s falls.” She turned and walked away from W.D., cradling their new child in her arms.

 

It wasn’t long before the boy’s returned from washing to find Desdemona sitting in an armchair, cradling a sleeping skele-kid. Their eyes all lit up… the oldest, Bernard, with bright green eyes; the middle, Bauhaus, with bright orange eyes; and the second-to-youngest now, Braggadocio, with bright purple eyes. All three surrounded the large, powerful female skeleton and smiled at their new little sister. “She’s still asleep? Can we wake her, mam?” Braggadocio asked, his purple eyes twinkling with excitement. The female skeleton shook her head gently “Not quite yet, young one. She will wake when she’s ready.”

 

“What color is she, mam?” Came Bauhaus’ slightly deeper voice “is she **orange** , like me??” he snapped his fingers, orange crystals growing along his bones until he was completely armored. “No, she’s gotta be **green** , like me!” Bernard snapped his finger bones and he disappeared being shrouded in a cloud of green. “Please your magic is lame! She’s **purple**! Like me!” Braggadocio snapped his fingers and he fell apart, giggling. Desdemona held her laughter in and gave a scolding look to the skele-brothers and shook her head “she is unique, just as I have my flames, and pap has…” she trailed off… she never really SAW W.D.’s magic. “I have waves, dear” the taller slender skeleton said, now clad in a black suit with a red tie. “Just as I have **blue** and **gold** magic, Mam has **red** … and this little one…” his large hand slid across Curlz cranium, her eyes shot open, the pupils engulfed in a **cerulean blue** swirl of panic. She looked up and saw Desdemona and W.D., looking to her left she saw her three brothers and cerulean blue tears welled in her eye sockets and she began to cry. Desdemona rolled her pupils in her eye sockets and stood up quickly, bumping W.D. purposely for waking their new child. Shushing the little Curlz, she swept past the boys who were ooing and ahhing over the color of their little sister’s magic.

 

“You boy’s ready?” W.D. interrupted their loud chattering as Desdemona tried her hardest to quiet the new born. The three turned to the larger skeleton and saluted, each were in their own tuxedos… all but Bauhaus who decided it would be funny to wear a ratty old hoodie. “We don’t have time to change you right now, Bauhaus, but you are in trouble when we get home.” W.D. sighed and failed to notice the child’s choice in shoes were pink bunny slippers. They left their home in “the dungeons” of the Dreemur castle, and W.D. locked their home, something itching down his back while it was turned towards their home. Like he was forgetting something… or had a sin he may have been trying to ignore.


	2. Crying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sad times... Fighting... tears...

_The chambers of the Underworld echoed with the roars of distress. The gentle king was furious… and none of the monsters in the Underworld were quite sure why._

The young Skeleton opened her eye sockets as she heard scuffling of bone-on-stone from the kitchen. ‘Mam must be getting ready to go to work’ she thought as she bound out of her bed only to trip on the Lesser Teen asleep on the floor. Curlz face-planted into the ground with a groan and she could hear a deep chuckle from one of her older brothers. She was years younger than them, and it showed; Bauhaus didn’t grow much taller from when she was first born, but man did he bulk up. His bones were twice the size of Braggadocio’s OR Bernard’s bones combined. He was a tricky splint too; always playing tricks on them and even sometimes on W.D., he never seemed to take anything or anyone seriously except for Desdemona, but that was only after she challenged him to a spar and rightfully owned him. Bernard shot up like a weed, rivaling Desdemona and W.D.’s heights with a rather loose mandible always curved into a smile. He was very gentle though, and learned to excel his magic abilities to even healing, which was helpful since Curlz was none-too graceful. While Braggadocio grew to a nice level, he was thick -but not as thick as Bauhaus- and was tall -but not as all as Bernard- his voice was deeper than the other two, and was extremely intelligent. He tutored Curlz while Desdemona was at work, and would leave to train with Desdemona.

 

As Curlz made her way to the kitchen, the figure of horror slowly revealed itself. That was the reason she heard scuffling… that’s why it sounded odd. Her eye sockets widened, staring up in quiet shock of a horrifically bleeding Desdemona. The Skeletal Captain of the guard didn’t seem to notice the child standing beside her. She gripped her mid section and begun to tear off the armor and groan in pain, that’s when Curlz heard it. A sickening squelch of a noise. She couldn’t see much in the darkness of the kitchen, but she knew it came from her mother. “M-Mam?” Came her soft voice, trembling with fear.

 

Desdemona turned her head quickly towards the child; the sight could send even the strongest of heart into shock. “Child!” she screeched and lunged towards Curlz, only to be sent flying back by orange crystals that burst forth from the ground. Behind her stood her three brothers, Bauhaus’ magic glowing at his fingertips. Bernard scooped his sister up in his arms and soon they were shrouded in green as he begun to move away “Bernard! What’s going on?!” Curlz asked frantically. She could feel her brother’s panic as he turned and passed her towards Lesser Teen, who held her close to her furry chest and whimpered. “GO!” Bernard demanded at an unusually loud tone to the dog monster and she yelped. “No please! Bernard tell me what’s wrong with Mam!!” She gasped as she watched their home get smaller and smaller. The Lesser Teen listening to her friend, even as tears streamed down the monster dogs furry cheeks.

 

~*~

 

Desdemona growled as her three sons surrounded her; her bones dripping “WHY” she hissed as she pulled out a red spear “WHY WOULD… HE NOT LET ME PERISH?” her body trembled as the three stepped closer “Mam, Pap loves you…” Bernard said kindly and reached out towards her “…he would never… forgive himself if he didn’t try to save you.” He touched her hand with his own and for a moment everything seemed to calm down, Desdemona lowered her spear and her shoulders sagged. “I was a good Captain of the Royal Guard, boys. This creature… this horrible monster disguised as a human child… they tricked me… now… now I-I’m…” Her eyes flared up with bright red flames and Bernard’s eye sockets widened, feeling his body getting tugged towards her. Bernard begun being enveloped by his mother’s body, he turned his head towards his brothers with a frantic look on his face “HELP!” he gasped out as they rushed foreword. Bauhaus’ eyes glowed a bright orange and orange crystals covered him and shot through the ground to possibly separate Bernard from Desdemona, but the state of her bones only stopped the gems and begun sucking them in as well. “Sh-shit! Hang on Bernard!” Bauhaus grunted in his super deep gruff voice, he reached towards Bernard.

 

“STAY AWAY FROM ME!” Desdemona’s voice raged and Bauhaus felt a sharp pain in his chest; looking down to find a red spear buried deep in his rib cage. “B-bauhaus…” Braggadocio whispered his body trembling “W-why Mam…” his purple eyes sparkled as he watched, Bernard being pulled into the melting form of their mother and Bauhaus doubling over, his floating orange heart cracking and his body slowly flaking to dust. He took a step back and sobbed, his magic flaring up “WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!?” he roared and jolted foreword, his fist raised and exploding from his wrist with purple magic to connect with Desdemona’s jaw only to be absorbed “JUST DIE!” he sobbed and soon the Gaster household grew deathly quiet… just a mound of white pulsating goop sitting in the middle of the kitchen.

 

~*~

 

The small skeleton clung to the white fur of the Lesser Teen and sobbed uncontrollably “please Lesser Dog…. Please bring me back to my family…” she couldn’t stop her body from trembling. ‘What was wrong with mam? Why did Bauhaus, Bernard, and Braggadocio suddenly wake up and force me out? Why was mam… why was mam… leaking?’ she thought to herself. Lesser Teen wrapped something around Curlz shoulders… it smelled like Bauhaus; when she opened her eye sockets, it was Bauhaus’ dull blue hoodie. Curlz eye sockets widened and welled with cerulean blue tears, sobbing as she held the hoodie close to her rib cage, she was shaking uncontrollably and poor Lesser Teen didn’t understand that she wasn’t cold. “What… happened Lesser Dog?” She said between sobs. Once Lesser Teen made it to her own home in Waterfall, she set the small skeleton on a bone-shaped couch and whimpered, all she wanted was to explain to Curlz what happened… but even she wasn’t sure. Climbing up on the couch and curling around the small skeleton she licked Curlz cheekbones and her body vibrated with warmth, lulling the scared, sad skeleton into a shallow sleep.

 

~*~

 

The mechanical locks clicked, echoing throughout the quiet home of W.D. Gaster. The shuffling of dress shoes on the stone floor echoed through the halls and the slight sound of a lab coat being removed from the bony shoulders of it’s owner broke the otherwise silent still air. “Des?” His voice echoed, as if lost in time “Boys? Curlz?” he called out, a little worried of the red blood drops he saw on the floor. He knew a human child had fatally injured Desdemona hours ago and to save her, he injected her with an extraction of Determination he had from before Curlz was completed as a monster, when she was still… human. He made his way further into their home and stopped dead in his tracks having come upon the mound that was once his wife and sons, now a mass of gooey sticky white goop.

 

“D-Desdemona?” His jaw clicked, his teeth pressed together so hard that a crack shot from his bottom teeth to the underside of his mandible. “B-Bauhaus? Bernard? Braggadocio?” he called to the monster in his kitchen. Sitting there, pulsating with pain, confusion, anger, hatred… the half-melted expression of his wife surfaced in the mass. “You…” she hissed, as though all the air inside her released all at once “…why did… ~~you do this to me~~ …” he couldn’t understand her after that. His spine burned as he stepped back, away from the mass that now begun to move towards him… the tingle he felt from the moment he begun to create children for Desdemona now burst forth, engulfing his spine in a painful black fire that stiffened him, and terrified him.

 

Turning to flee, he was stopped by another half-melted expression that had somehow quietly stretched itself behind him without his knowledge… Bauhaus’ expression was hollow. Dead. Not even saying a word, but still terrifying W.D. enough to back away from it, only to stop in his tracks, now being surrounded by the mass. “Why…” he whispered, his tall lanky body trembled as his spine tingled and burned at the same time. “Amal…ga…mate” the voice of his apprentice, Braggadocio, wheezed out painfully. W.D.’s eye sockets widened, he had done research on amalgamates before and had just finished teaching Braggadocio about them the day before last. They were failed infusions of one thing or another… monsters bodies weren’t made of strong enough material to handle determination… he should have known Desdemona’s was no different. He could feel his multi-colored heart breaking as he stared around at the monstrosity he created.

 

“I will right this, Des… boys. I will make this right again…” he reached towards the face of his wife, only to have a sharp, almost white, orange melting crystal shoot out of the monster and punch a hole in his left hand. Pulling his hand back quickly crying quietly in pain as he felt the very particles of his hand being peeled away by the amalgamates attack. It moved swiftly, making its way towards him now, what was he going to do? This was his wife… his sons… how could he attack them? How could he kill them… when they were this way because of his failures? Blue and golden tears streamed down his cheeks as he reached out towards the monster again, hoping to get through to them… ignoring his own menu selection as his blue and golden heart floated just inches from his chest.

 

“Please, family… listen!” he sobbed, only to have a white, almost red, spear puncture his right hand, leaving another hole… feeling the particles tear from one another as the amalgamate continued to steal bits and pieces of him with every attack. Bernard’s almost pristine face appeared in the middle of the amalgamate, his expression pained and scared “Lock us away, Pap! Please before we consume everything! Curlz is safe… she’s with… Lesser ~~dogs family~~ …” he could no longer understand his son. His body crawled with pain. Lock them away? How?! How could he do that to his family? To his wife!? To his sons??

 

His world spun violently as he felt the mass of the amalgamate surround him. He was prepared to give up, to become apart of the monster he created out of his family… but Bernard wasn’t ready to let his father give up. A blast of green shot out from the middle of the amalgamate, pushing W.D. out of the way as the monster came crashing in on itself. W.D. let out a sob, he knew his sons were protecting him… well… the ones that were alive in there. He could feel Bernard and Braggadocio still in there… but Desdemona and Bauhaus were long gone. W.D slowly rose to his feet, his eyes glowing their respective gold and blue as he held up his hand, now with hole and blood. “Forgive me, I will right this… as long as magic pulses through my bones, I will not rest until I have righted my wrongs.”

 

His hand lit brightly, green, orange, purple… and a new color… red… slowly seeping from the amalgamate. “Forgive me family… Forgive me…” Tears streamed down his cheeks like acid as gold and blue chains wrapped around the monster, pulling them into the depths. transporting the mass into the deepest most area of his lab, locking it away in the only available container at the time… a lone fridge. The skeleton fell to his knees and sobbed loudly… at the moment, completely forgetting he even had a daughter… forgetting Curlz.

 

~*~

 

Curlz slowly awoke to the sound of scuffling paws on wood. A door creaked open and a very tall figure stepped forth, hoping to claim the sleeping skele-kid with swiftness to return to… somewhere. Slowly she sat up, rubbing her eye sockets with her small fists and looking up at W.D. with concerned eyes. She noted the crack in his jaw and the holes in his hands… but didn’t once question, as she could feel something wasn’t right about her father. He wasn’t smiling, he wasn’t talking, and he didn’t hug her. Reaching out to the small skeleton, he gestured for her to start moving, and she complied. They took a strange route home… strange because it wasn’t at all where they lived… stopping on a bridge outside Snowden that connected to Waterfall, W.D. gestured towards her to stop… as he turned towards her, she saw a vacancy in his eyes, but also a great pain. “Pap?” She asked softly but before she knew it… he vanished, leaving a note fluttering to the ground. She didn’t know where he went, or where she was… so she hid under the bridge, trembling, clinging to the note left by Gaster.

 

                                    “ ~~Be a good girl and perish~~

                                                  ~~love  W.D. Gaster~~ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who are familiar with OpiumPastries' Fic: http://archiveofourown.org/works/5014231/chapters/11523997?view_adult=true
> 
> This one is actually somewhat following behind the scenes in that. A few of the parts in my Fic will directly coincide with his, so please read both to get the full Undertale understanding! :P


	3. But Nobody Came

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even more sad times. VERY SHORT CHAPTER.

_The decree was made; the monsters were in an uproar. Filled with DETERMINATION as their distraught king pledged war on the humans… and the Queen disappeared._

Curlz waited weeks under the bridge for her father to return, not being able to tell what the note he left behind said, only leaving her to assume it told her to wait for him to return for her. Her body trembled from the cold; under this bridge was probably one of the coldest places to stay. The constant spray of the waterfall, the bone-chilling deep freeze from the neighboring Snowdin, and the random block of ice floating down the falls, making a large splash made it by far the coldest place in the entire underworld. She heard the footfalls of shoes, followed by the soft paddings of someone she was familiar with… Asriel! Slowly she moved, ice chipping off of her bones as she climbed over the bridge to greet her friend. “As--” she stopped as she came face-to-face with this creature, she was sure it wasn’t a monster, but it’s red eyes told her otherwise. The child stared at her with an eerie expression before turning towards the shy young kid behind them “Asriel. Who is this, and why is she in my way?” The small goat-kid looked up bashfully and blinked tears out of his eyes as he saw a familiar young skeleton standing in the way, a light of hope shimmering in his gentle eyes.

 

“Th-that’s my best friend… Curlz!” He said with a bit of cheer in his voice, which obviously upset the other, because their shoulders stiffened and hands clenched into fists. “EX-best friend, Asriel. I’M your bestest friend, you don’t need any others.” They turned towards Curlz with a sickening look on their face making Curlz extremely uncomfortable. “Look -whoever you are- Asriel has me now.” They grabbed Curlz ice cold phalanges and pressed them to their chest “feel that, Skeleton? I have a heart beat. I have a pulse. I’M supposed to be alive. YOU are a freak of nature that couldn’t just let well enough alone and DIE. So…” they let go of Curlz hand and pushed her back harshly, watching her stumble and fall on her tailbone. “…Like… make like a skeleton, and make yourself SCARE-ce,” they gestured rudely towards Curlz who stared at the child with widened eye sockets. She was ultimately surprised that Asriel didn’t stop the child from mistreating her.

 

The child pushed past the small skeleton on the ground and beckoned the young goat to follow… like a dog! Curlz gritted her teeth together… if she had the strength… if she had the bravery to stand up and tell the strange child off… she shook her head furiously and slowly got to her feet. Asriel shuffled past Curlz as she stood, her head hung as she slid her hands up her skull, sliding the hoodie over her cranium to hide her face. Not even an apology from Asriel… what kind of sinister hold did this child have on her best friend to change him so drastically. She felt a weight on her sternum as she shuffled to the edge of the bridge and lowered herself underneath. Sitting on the cold hard ground, Curlz pulled her legs up to her sternum and buried her face into her exposed kneecaps; sobbing softly “has everyone just… forgotten about me?” She thought her brothers would have come for her by now, or at least her father or mother.

 

~*But nobody came.*~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who are familiar with OpiumPastries' Fic: http://archiveofourown.org/works/5014231/chapters/11523997?view_adult=true
> 
> This one is actually somewhat following behind the scenes in that. A few of the parts in my Fic will directly coincide with his, so please read both to get the full Undertale understanding! :P


	4. Abandonment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How does the little one live under the bridge...

_The ground shook with the weight of two who fell into the Underworld. A familiar sound echoed throughout the ruins… The Prince had returned home._

Lifting her head from a rock she fashioned into a pillow Curlz groaned, placing a frigid boney hand against her skull. She was freezing, once again, because of the falls and vowed inwardly to make the monster that kept throwing massive ice blocks into the waters up the stream at Snowdin rue the day they thought it to be a good idea to. Shivering and slowly removing her greyish-blue jacket, she began her daily regimen of survival. ‘ _I’m sure… the note from Pap told me to stay put. So I’ll have to GRIN… and bear it until then’_ she let out a weak chuckle, since she always had a sort of smile plastered on her skull, being a Skeleton and all. Wringing out the jacket in the pond feet below her camp, at least it was a bit warmer down here, since this is where the waterfalls from Snowdin met the lukewarm almost stagnant pools of Waterfall. As she wrung her jacket out, she could hear the pitter patter of other monsters crossing the bridges casually, she had to be careful not to be seen… since she was topless. Bubbles begun to surface in the pond she was staring into and what burst forth scared the ever-living soul out of Curlz.

 

“FIGHT ME!” The small fish-boy, still pretty much in his larval state, snarled up at her his piranha-like teeth jutting left and right in a silly and awkward manor. Curlz took a step back and covered herself with her once again sopping wet jacket and let out a sigh. “Dynamos, you got my jacket wet again…” she had met this monster month’s prior after the whole Prince Asriel and strange child fiasco. He had heard her crying and demanded her to tell him what’s wrong or fight him. They had become sort of friends since, and it warmed Curlz soul whenever he came around. He was probably the same age as her, but fish-monster’s aged very differently from Skeletons. Then again, Skeletons didn’t really age; they just were there one day and will turn to dust the next if they get too old. Some Skeleton monsters will get twisted and mangled; W.D. explained it once to Curlz,

 

“ _The humans have thrown away many materials in reference to this phenomenon, Little One. They refer to this as ‘arthritis’, so I’ve deemed it a terminal and dangerous illness for us Skeleton Monsters. I’ve decided we shouldn’t use human terms, and_

_re-named it ‘Osteosis’. That is why we drink Monster Milk every day…”_

Curlz heard a snapping noise and the white orbs in her eye sockets dilated as she gazed down at the little fish-boy, who was now snapping -no, not his fingers- his fangs in her face to snap her out of whatever inner struggle she was going through. She shrugged back a bit and starting wringing out her jacket once more “C’mon Curlz, you SAID you’d fight me today!” He wined. The white orbs in her eye sockets rolled and her plastered smile grew a bit “I’m a little busy today…” She trailed off and he let out a loud exaggerated sigh “But you say you’re busy EVERY. DAY. What do you do but sit up there and… and…” he blinked and scratched his dorsal fin “…SIT THERE!” he splashed back into the pond. A large wave flying towards Curlz, she looked to the wave and let out a defeated sigh… dropping her arms to her sides. The wave washed over the young skele-girl and she garbled loudly under the water as she had been washed into the river and over a waterfall. Grasping quickly at her jacket that was just out of reach she screamed the moment she came above water, only to get a mouth full of rushing water and being brought back under again. Her mind swirled and as she felt her body suspended in the calming waters all she could think was ‘ _This can’t be how I die… Mam… Pap… my Brothers… they’ll never be able to find me… they--_ ’ her thought was interrupted though, as she was pulled from the cold waters by familiar, boney, hands.

 

As the white orbs in her eye sockets flickered; her falling in and out of consciousness, she could see her father’s face and could smell his scent on his… black? Robes. W.D. only wore black when he, quote, “was mourning a failure”. It was melodramatic, and Desdemona would always tell him to stop being a baby when his experiments didn’t go as planned. Soon her world spun and there was darkness, she could only hear the shallow echoing sound of her magic and soul humming inside her head. Then slowly she could hear a new sound, it was muffled and sounded so distant at first and soon it began to get clearer and louder. It was Dynamos. He was screaming her name and sobbing; “I’M SORRY CURLZ! I DIDN’T MEAN TO ALMOST DROWN YOU! PLEASE DON’T DIE!” The white orbs in Curlz eye sockets burst to life in her head and she let out a loud gasp as she sat up, she was warm…ish, and her jacket was dry. “CURLZ!” the overly friendly fish-boy hugged her tightly and sobbed, “I thought I killed you! I tried to swim after you, but the current was too strong since it’s high tide… Then all of a sudden you were gone… and then you were here!”

 

Curlz slowly sat up, her skull was throbbing; grabbing one side of her head and patting it roughly, a fish popped out of her eye and flopped into the water with a gush of water that was stuck inside. Dynamos was a bit disturbed by the sight but was too worried about his friend to act on it; Curlz slowly got to her feet and wavered a bit before straightening herself. “It’s fine Dynamos… I think… I think my Pap saved me… but… where is he? Did you see him?” Dynamos blinked and shook his head quickly, the fins on the side of his head slapping his cheeks each time he changed direction “nuh-uh. You were just… here. Dry as a--” he stopped and started sweating as Curlz looked over at him with dark eyes and the biggest smile “Say it.” She egged him on, his sweat only became more profuse and he looked away “Say. It.” She demanded next to him, he laughed nervously, already caught in Curlz wicked web “…D-Dry as… a b-…b-bone…”

 

They laughed together loudly before suddenly Curlz felt the ground tremble and heard a loud thud from the way of the ruins. If she had a stomach, she’d feel sick to it. Something about that didn’t feel right. Things fell into the ruins from the Overworld all the time, but it never… sounded like that. She stiffened and turned towards the bridge “S-sorry Dynamos. Something just happened… and I have to go check it out, it doesn’t feel right.” Her soul in her chest throbbed achingly, her friend understood and sunk into his pond as she clambered over the bridge and to Snowdin. Her body vibrated with the wave after wave of agony and despair she started feeling the moment the ground shook. Her eye sockets even welled with cerulean blue tears and she didn’t know why but she had to get there, she didn’t know where but her soul was leading her. Her body thrummed with anxiety as she got closer and closer to the ruins. Her legs gave out as she came into a clearing in the ruins and simply saw a large lump of white heaving. Asriel had gotten big… but of course… Caprasapian’s get really big really fast. In fact… Asriel had been below his height and weight expectations for a normal Caprasapian. Slowly Curlz managed to regain the strength in her legs, and slowly approached her oldest and dearest friend “A-Asriel?” She said softly, holding back tears… he slowly raised his head, completely clad in deep stab wounds “W-what… happened to you Asie?” She lost it, she began to sob softly and touched his medium-large paw and noticed he was holding something in his arms. A child… THAT… child, the one that belittled her… the one that treated him so poorly. It’s skin was a greenish grey, and she couldn’t feel a life force come from it… all she could see was a black soul hovering just above their chest. A sickening smile plastered on their dead lips, the white orbs in her eye sockets begun to glow bright cerulean blue as anger rose for the first time in her life, making her magic boil “Asriel… what… HAPPENED?!”

 

He smiled at her and placed the body of the human child on the ground and struggled to stand up. Sickening schlep noises of blood falling from his wounds to the ground echoed through the belly of the cave and he stared up at the hole he fell through. “Can… I tell you something?” He said, his voice was so sweet, so pained… “Y-yeah… anything” she trembled, she didn’t like where this was going “P-promise you won’t laugh?” Her eye sockets widened and she shook her head quickly, tears flinging from her eye sockets “Wh-when have I ever…” she trailed off and he smiled and chuckled “…you’re right. I’m sorry.” They stood in silence a moment before Curlz spoke slowly, “Asri--” she was interrupted by Asriel “When Chara showed up down here… I was so happy. It could be… all three of us playing together. But then… he told me you… **weren’t really a monster** , but a **human kid** … like him. That’s why I--” She looked genuinely shocked and she unzipped her jacket quickly, interrupting him “IS THAT SOME SICK JOKE!? LOOK AT ME!” her bones were glowing bright blue and her rib bones grew and shot out creating a cage around Asriel and this human named… Chara’s… corpse. “I’M A **SKELETON**! I DON’T HAVE SKIN! ORGANS! TENDONS! NOTHING!” Asriel looked surprised at the ‘attack’ and smiled at her “th-that’s cool… when… could you do this, Curlz?”

 

Her body was trembling, her eye sockets glowing cerulean blue “please tell me you didn’t stop playing with me because he told you that load of… load of… BULLSHIT!” She cried out and Asriel laughed, his laugh was sad and shame filled “I-I’m sorry… he was so convincing…” The rib-cage retracted as she collapsed to her knee bones and trembled “I can’t--” she sobbed and felt a warm bloody paw on her shoulder, making her jolt and look up at her friend “…but you know what? I’m… happy I stopped. My brother… would have hurt you probably… he played rough…” with that he slid to his knees and Curlz could hear heavy footfalls approaching. “You should go, Curlz… they might think you did this…” he touched her skull, leaving blood on her as he fell foreword and she sobbed “D-don’t die you dingus…” but she could see his feet turning to dust as they spoke; stepping back, Curlz turned and hid in a crevice as the Royal Guard arrived with Asgore and Toriel… but Desdemona was nowhere to be seen. Curlz felt worried and sad to not see her mother amongst the Royal Guard, but she stayed still and stayed quiet. Toriel stood there quietly and Asgore fell to his knees, picking up his sons body and sobbing into his furry chest “ASRIEL!” he sobbed so hard and Toriel’s eyes moved from her blood son, to her adopted one, tears welling in her eyes but never calling out, nor moving from her spot. The crown on Asgore’s head fell and clambered loudly on the ground, the chambers of the Underworld echoed with the roars of distress. The Queen told something of the Royal Guard and Curlz could see her father shift towards Asgore, putting a hand on the King’s shoulder… she couldn’t make it out, but she could have sworn she saw some kind of large egg in her father’s coat pocket before she hid herself more as the Royal Guard walked over to the body of the human child and begun digging.

 

The Queen had ordered the Royal Guard to bury the human child and the King and Queen stood and held the Prince until all Asgore clung to were particles of dust. Toriel turned away and left the cave with the Royal Guard who had already finished burying the human child in a mound just under the hole in the ceiling of the cave, and slowly… the King stood. His gentle demeanor still present… but his shoulders sagged with defeat. Slowly he reached down and plucked up his crown… the gentle king was furious… and none of the monsters in the Underworld were quite sure why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who are familiar with OpiumPastries' Fic: http://archiveofourown.org/works/5014231/chapters/11523997?view_adult=true
> 
> This one is actually somewhat following behind the scenes in that. A few of the parts in my Fic will directly coincide with his, so please read both to get the full Undertale understanding! :P


	5. JUSTICE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> .....Ever wonder what happens to the Cowboy that rides too far into the sunset?

_She held her hands over her head and held her breath… did Skeletons even breathe? The sounds were sickening and haunting… she couldn’t help them. She couldn’t help anyone… not her mother… not her brothers; she wanted to call for help. But she knew no one would come…_

The decree was made; the monsters were in an uproar. Filled with DETERMINATION as their distraught king pledged war on the humans… and the Queen disappeared. It was all out war now… after the deaths of not only the Prince but also the human child the King and Queen had adopted. Monsters raged, pacing around the random entrances that humans fell, stumbled, walked by, or even remotely came near Mt. Ebott. While the barrier kept them from leaving the mountain’s bowels, if a human came too close… or fell in as the other human child had… the Monsters would tear them to shreds. Soon the humans became wise to their vicious acts and made a decree that Mt. Ebott was off limits unless the human was convicted and sentenced to death. Only murderers, loonies, and other criminals fell into the depths of the mountain, and only those would die at the hands of the monsters. They begun to lust for blood, once calm gentle monsters were ravenous vicious killers, humans fell in at least once a week and it went like this for ages; the waterfalls, ponds and rivers running red with human blood.

 

As soon as the humans deemed it ‘inhumane’ to put other humans, even if they were murderers, to death by the hands -or claws- of monsters, the surplus of humans stopped. Why the monsters hadn’t escaped with the souls from the condemned? Because something… SOMEONE… was stealing them the moment the souls were ripe to be plucked from the corpses. Always a dark streak of nothingness would envelop the corpses and once it streaked away, the soul would either be shattered or completely taken. It was a phenomenon that baffled the monsters and their blood lust slowly subsided… but not Asgores. The King wanted to collect the souls and rage an all-out war on the creatures that left him a bereaved parent… and wifeless. The once gentle creature was hurting beyond words, comprehension, and was acting upon pure emotion. Curlz was terrified, the screams, the rage… the Underworld was definitely living up to the Greek stories she read in those discarded human books that were left behind in the ‘dump’. The Queen hadn’t been seen in decades since the death of Asriel… as though just the thought of loosing two children, and loosing the monster she loved to the depths of revenge forced her to pick up and completely disappear. No one knew where she had gone.

 

Curlz woke up one morning… morning? It was hard to tell down here, but assumingly morning… to the faint sound of something small, solid and light falling through the cave mouth into the patch of Golden flowers that grew over the grave the Royal Guard dug for the child Chara. It was early morning, while most monsters were asleep. So thankfully none of the others were around to hear the noise, so slowly… carefully… she made her way to the cave to see what it was that fell through, ‘ _Please don’t be a human… let it be a bag of trash… or m-maybe a pillow filled with really heavy feathers’_ she thought as she approached the mass lying in the bed of golden flowers.

Eye sockets widened as she came closer to the form and found an injured human child; they must have been daft to come to the mountain! She blinked and noticed something in the child’s hand, ‘ _A GUN?!_ ’ she stepped back a bit shocked that a child would be holding onto something so deadly. The injured child groaned and slowly begun to sit up, Curlz gripped her jacket over her sternum and held her breath. ‘ _Do I even breathe? Whatever, it’s for aesthetics I guess… but why am I not running?? They have a weapon!_ ’ she thought to herself and slowly the child saw her standing there and turned pale as a bag of bones, their golden eyes staring up at her in fear. ‘ _They’re more afraid of you than you are of them… but… why would they be? They have a gu--_ ’ she stopped her train of thought the moment she saw a string attached to the cork that was stuffed into the end of the gun. She felt silly and let her jacket go and sighed outwardly.

 

Holding a hand out to the injured child she let her natural smile grow a bit more as she spoke without her mouth opening, “you hurt anywhere? You fell quite a ways… Kiddy,” she said gently, trying to sound less scared and more gentle. The child was worried at first; it was obvious they’d never seen a living skeleton before so it was only natural. Then slowly they reached out and touched her hand with their own, then winced in pain as they coughed out a bit of blood, which was sure to draw the attention of other monsters down here who still searched for what they now called ‘The Fallen’. Naturally Curlz slowly scooped the injured child up in her arms to take them to a safer place, that being her cardboard bed under the bridge that connected Snowdin to Waterfall, but the child began to struggle against her; coughing up a bit more blood as their injuries were mostly internal, they pointed upwards towards the entrance of the cave they had fallen through. There Curlz was able to see something caught at the mouth of the cave, it fluttered a bit from the outside air gushing by.

 

“You’re bleeding internally, and you want me to get your stupid hat?” She said, not with any sort of viciousness towards the kid, but more in shock at the kid’s priorities. With golden hair and golden eyes glistening in the small rays of sunlight that beamed down from the mouth of the cave, the child stared up at her with hope… with… a sense of… JUSTICE. She let out a heavy sigh and walked to a divot in the cave wall she had hidden in when Asriel fell, and set the child inside… just in case monsters showed up. She winked and put her bony finger to her teeth “stay quiet, and try not to cough up any more blood, OK Kiddy? I’ll get your hat, if it’s THAT important.” They nodded quickly and turning so her back was to them, the white orbs in Curlz eye sockets rolled around a bit, half in disbelief and half in scanning the walls to see where she could climb up to get it. Then it dawned on her “oh! I think I got it!” she walked to where she’d be directly underneath the hat and her cheeks begun to glow a soft cerulean blue, ‘ _no one better show up while I’m doing this…_ ’ she thought and took a deep breath. Really, do they breathe?

 

Curlz unzipped her dull grey-blue jacket and bent over like a tipped-over 'L', “ok, lets do this!” she said, her bones began to glow softly at first, then in a flash -and a bit of a squeal from her- her rib cage extended shooting her 25 feet into the air, just next to the hat and with 10 feet to spare to the mouth of the cave. Reaching out, Curlz gingerly took the hat in her finger bones and plucked it off of the tree root that it had gotten caught on, on the child’s decent into what was essentially a living, breathing, Hell on Earth. Curlz perked up a bit as she heard the sounds of approaching footfalls and her cheek bones burned with her magic glowing blue, ‘ _CRAP! No no no! I’m nuuuuude!_ ’ she thought as her rib cage retracted and she hovered in the air a bit, ‘ _Well sh--_ ’ she couldn’t finish her thought as she began to plummet towards the ground and with a loud echoing thud, she landed next to the patch of golden flowers. Her arms and legs twisted and mangled from the fall, but she was able to hide her ‘nudity’ as she had fallen face-first into the ground. As the other monsters arrived, they came upon the mangled Skeleton and snickered to one another. A Loox blinked down at Curlz and their Ghost friend reached down tapping her gently “Trying to escape, Sweetie?” The ghost chortled lightly, their yellow color matching their cheerful demeanor “It’s pointless, dunno how you got up there. But, judging by your mangled appearance, you’ve already got that figured out.”

 

With her face buried in the dirt, she mumbled a ‘yeah’ and the group chuckled lightly, “well, don’t quit your day job, Sweetie.” The group continued to laugh as they left the area, more than likely going back towards the Ruins where they originally came from. Groaning, Curlz slowly clicked her bones back in place and pushed herself up, quickly zipping her jacket up in embarrassment and picking up the Cowboy Hat, dusting it off from the fall. She turned and sauntered over to the divot in the wall where she hid the human child and leaned in, her smile covered in dirt, “here you go, Kiddy.” She held the hat out to the child and their eyes lit up, beaming with hope as they reached out and took the hat. Placing it gently on their head and a smile beaming up at them as they giggled, pointing to their own smile then pointing at her. “What? I got something in my teeth?” She brought her sleeve up to her face and rubbed at her teeth; as she moved her arm back the white orbs in her eye sockets narrowed and Curlz started sweating. ‘ _M-my jacket… It’s filthy now,_ ’ she thought before feeling a little tug at her jacket pocket. Looking down, and away from her muddled jacket, the golden eyes of the human child were staring up at her and it only made her smile grow. “Lets get you somewhere safe, k Kiddy? If those monsters come back, I don’t think I could distract them like I just did, again.” They nodded quickly and tried to stand up; winced and fell back down coughing.

 

Curlz gingerly slid her arms around the fallen child and picked them up gently, trying her hardest not to further injure the child as she realized their injuries were internal and somewhat external. “Not a talkative one, are you?” She asked with a worried chuckle, walking slowly and carefully out of the cave towards her bridge. Curlz hid quickly as other monsters were now up and about, wandering here and there, holding the child close to her sternum as she held her breath, again. ‘ _Seriously, this is a weird habit I do._ ’ she thought to herself as she let out a sigh as they passed and she was able to make a mad dash to Snowdin. Her footfalls were a lot louder in the snow, and the fact that she left footprints in the snow with small droplets of blood every few feet from the injured child. ‘ _This is dangerous… I need to stop in the shop,_ ’ she thought to herself as she ducked into a new-ish store front that didn’t yet have a sign, and had only one window in the front. The store wasn’t yet open, as the inside was somewhat gutted and being renovated by the owner. “Flambé! Yooo! You here Flambé?” She called out, gently placing the child in a booth that was finished being built.

 

A gentle yellow glow began to grow brighter as the monster that owned this shop slowly approached the doorway from the back of the store and sizzled when they lay their coal-black eyes on Curlz. “Hey Flambé. I have a bit of a bone-headed issue here…” the flame monster sizzled a little more irritated as his coal-black eyes stared over Curlz shoulder at the human child who was curled up in the booth just behind her. “Hey, watch your language, they’re just a kid” she huffed and walked over, covering the kid’s ears “Look, I get it’s your place, but your… HOT HEAD…” she winked and the monster’s flames intensified “…attitude isn’t very helpful in this instance. The kid is very badly injured and the snow here is giving me away something awful.” The flame monster crossed his arms over his taught chest and breathed out a puff of smoke as he stared with irritation at Curlz, judging her harshly for her choices she made to bring her to this point. “Look, I wouldn’t have come to you if I had any other choice, bucko. You _were_ Braggadocio’s best friend; the LEAST you could do is help me out. I’ll get out of your hair… or lack thereof… once you’ve helped me.” She pleaded with him; the mention of her brother Braggadocio hit a very raw nerve in the flame monster and his flames roared to life, bursting forth and pushing her back away from the child who yelped, the flames having licked their leg. Curlz tumbled out the front door into the snow as Flambé blew the door off its hinges; this wasn’t an odd thing to see here in Snowdin, Flambé was a bit of a hot head and did this often to many people who tried to talk to him.

 

Curlz coughed out cerulean blue blood and wiped her smirk with her sleeve as she looked at the hotheaded flame monster. “I get you acting like this months after he disappeared… but decades? Come on Flambé, you two weren’t lovers or anything!” She egged him on, she had to… if she didn’t he’d let his rage boil to dangerous levels without resolving it and he may harm the human inside the shop. While she was lying in the snow, worrying about how to get him to exert his anger and fizz out, she felt a fiery tendril wrap around her ankle, lift her into the air and slam her into the snow. ‘ _Oh… wow… ouch,_ ’ she thought and shortly after the first initial attack, she noticed her cerulean blue heart floating just inches from her chest, and his yellow heart floating above his. ‘Shit he’s serious about this?’ she shifted and kicked snow onto the tendril and Flambé hissed in pain, pulling it back to his body to heat it up again. Curlz slowly stood and patted her charred tibia, “I think it’s about time you CHILLED,” her eye sockets flashed with cerulean blue magic and she took a defensive stance. The flame monster snorted and his hand hovered over the attack option, he hissed obscenities at Curlz and she looked taken aback “How was I supposed to know THAT?” she gripped her fists “my brothers never told me ANYTHING! I was a kid! COOL OFF!” she hit the ‘ACT’ button and immediately selected the ‘Cool Down’ option, which consisted mostly of kicking snow at him until he selected the ‘RUN’ option.

 

Luckily for Curlz, Flambé wasn’t really a fighter and hated getting hurt more than any other monster in Snowdin; he just had a really short fuse. Freeing Curlz from the Monster Battle as he smashed the ‘RUN’ option and walked back inside his shop, Curlz following shortly while carrying his front door and propping it up behind her as she made it into the shop. “Look, Flambé… I’m sorry. I didn’t know, but he was my _brother_ , you think I don’t want to find where he’s at too? But killing innocent kids isn’t the way! Braggadocio… Bernard… Bauhaus… Mam… none of them would have wanted us to--” the flame monster slammed his hands down on the new bar that looked like it had just been installed and his mouth tore open… Curlz always thought it looked like it hurt when he did that, “ENOUGH! You’re talking about them like they’re DEAD!” The human child whimpered and cowered under the table and Curlz expression never wavered from that of a smirking smug skeleton. “I… I know they’re not, Flambé. I can… I can still feel them. They’re somewhere… just… not here.” She walked over to the trembling human child and pulled them out from under the table “I know you’ve got a good heart, Flambé. I know you don’t hate humans, let alone this kid. I mean… look at ‘em,” she turned holding the kid up for the flame monster to see.

 

His coal black eyes stared at the trembling injured human with coldness, and then slowly melted away as his expression changed and his flames dulled to a soft flicker. This was the Flambé she remembered, the gentle flame monster that once dulled his flames so much that he almost died… so that he could catch a butterfly and release it in the ruins where it had a better chance to live. He noted the humans’ injuries from falling, and his expression grew pained when he saw the scorch mark on the child’s ankle… from him. “Dear Asgore… what have I done?” he reached over; the child flinching, and he quickly withdrew his extended hand, “they’re terrified of me!” he whimpered and Curlz couldn’t help but chuckle, what a big softy. “They were scared of me too, you got any grub? Maybe the kid’s like me, when I’m scared, a nice hotcat with extra mustard… with a bottle of mustard…” she trailed off, hinting towards her newly found addiction, the human condiment mustard. She had to admit… human food was addictive, she loved all of it: Spaghetti, pizza, burgers, hotdogs -how barbaric!-, tacos, pancakes… but she couldn’t get enough of how good mustard burned going down. It was like drinking something spicy, hot, and made of electricity and copper at the same time, it was definitely an amazing invention of the humans to say in the least! “E-NOUGH” the flame-broiled matchstick sizzled at her as his mouth slowly welded shut again. Nodding, he held up a finger and walked to the back where he had originally came from, “See Kiddy? He’s not so bad, just gotta get past his hotheadedness.” The child never let their guard down, but they did relax after realizing Flambé didn’t really mean them harm, their tiny stomach growling loudly as they anticipated whatever food the monsters had to offer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who are familiar with OpiumPastries' Fic: http://archiveofourown.org/works/5014231/chapters/11523997?view_adult=true
> 
> This one is actually somewhat following behind the scenes in that. A few of the parts in my Fic will directly coincide with his, so please read both to get the full Undertale understanding! :P


	6. CORRUPTION

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when JUSTICE is tainted.....?

_“Why…” Curlz trailed off, cerulean blue blood pushing past her closed teeth. The ground shook as she approached the small child who shook with intense fear but despite that, the child stood fast against her…_

Hours had flown by as the child… WARMED… up to Flambé. The hothead kept feeding them, and they kept eating. ‘ _Where does the kid put it?_ ’ Curlz thought but only found herself chuckling lightly as she could ask the same about her own eating habits. Hearing the skeleton chuckle, the child turned towards her with a beaming face; after letting Flambé take a look at their injuries they were in much higher spirits, and this made Curlz happy for a short while. A bony hand landed softly on the kid’s hat-covered head and a little giggle chortled out of the child’s mouth as she rubbed the hat to and fro on their head. “Looks like it’s about time we headed out, can’t mooch off Flambé forever, Kiddy.” She said, a little upset herself that this couldn’t last forever. But soon the bar would be open for business and monsters would be flocking in from all over to eat and drink here. It’s just not safe, they had to keep going, Curlz HAD to get the kid through the barrier. It was the only way she knew the little one would have a chance to live, the only way she knew she could protect them.

 

Getting up and patting the counter gently, “put it on my tab” Curlz said with a wink at Flambé before coaxing the child to get up as well. “I’ll fix your door, too… eventually” she mentioned as she headed towards the door that was only propped up against it’s frame. The child turned and gave Flambé a smile as they waved goodbye to him, his flames glowing a big rosier he raised his own hand slowly and awkwardly and gave a quick mini wave back to the child. Curlz lifted them into her arms and draped her old dirty jacket around them, still wearing it mind you, and she zipped up the front so the child was hidden perfectly in her jacket… but now she looked like she gained a few pounds. Which this fact would have been fine, had she been any other monster, but she was a skeleton… and skeletons don’t gain weight. She still had to be cautious, even though now at this point most monsters were either in school, at work, or searching the ruins for humans. “I’ll get you out of here, Kiddy” she said, her voice vibrating through her sternum, of which the child was gently resting against under her jacket. The pulse of her magic was the closest thing the child felt to a heart beat for this monster, and as such gave them just that much more comfort.

 

The hardest part of the trek could have easily been Snowdin, had anyone been out and about and thankfully that wouldn’t be the case. Her bare bone feet crunching through the fresh powdery snow, puffs of visible air pushing past the tight gaps in her teeth as she trudged through, past a sign that visibly irritated the skeleton. She took a moment to stop and look up at a newly placed sign… ‘ _What incompetent monster was put in charge of this mess… and for a scholarly building no less_ ’ she let out a trembling breath; the puff of visible air creating a cloud around her head for a short moment before she turned and kept walking towards the edge of Snowdin. Once she reached her bridge she would rest, no one ever looked under there… no one even knew she existed, save for the few monsters who were friends with her brothers. ‘ _Just a mile left, kiddy_ ’ she thought and patted her jacket gently, like a mother talking to her unborn child.

 

Ahead of her she heard the ground crunch, the icy air grew thick with fog the further out she went. It was the reaction between the almost immediate climate shift from perpetual winter to the gentle warmth of the bridge and caves that lead to Waterfall. She learned that from Bernard, he had tutored her about almost everything, so she knew a little bit about everything that went on in the Underworld. The crunching of snow ahead of her was unsettling, there were royal guards that wandered around, but they never ventured into Snowdin. Snowdin was a ‘safe’ place of sorts, where the only time the Royal Guard were allowed to be there, is if they lived there and weren’t on duty. The foot falls crunched louder as Curlz had been standing still, her bones shaking as she tried her hardest not to make too much noise, ‘ _maybe they don’t see me…_ ’ she thought and she felt a sudden rush of something being forcibly pulled out of her. It wasn’t the child… but it was something pretty damn important… her soul. Her cerulean blue heart was floating just above where the child’s head was under her jacket and all she could see through the fog was a large figure, their own soul floating brightly ahead of their own chest. This just wasn’t Curlz day.

 

Turning away, she unzipped her jacket and embraced the child “hide behind that snow pom, I wont let them get you. I promise.” She said, her expression, while unchanging to the human’s eyes, was actually softer… motherly. She now understood why the Queen had openly taken in a human child, and loved it like she loved Asriel; humans had a way about them that can get under your skin. She chuckled, ‘ _even when you don’t have skin_ ’. Watching until the child was behind a pom she turned, zipping up her jacket and faced the monster that stood in her way. Her eyes lit up a cerulean blue and her motherly expression changed to a dangerous grin, though to the child it didn’t look like it changed at all. “Going to admit, I never thought I’d come across a royal guard here…” she tried playful banter, until her soul suddenly turned yellow and her blue flames got cut off. Her eye sockets widened, as she looked across the way she realized this was the royal guard that used yellow magic to infect the other with the same magic forcing them to fight on THEIR terms.

 

“Xmodblook…” she breathed and a laugh echoed past the rushing sound of the waterfalls behind. This royal guard was related to the yellow ghost she had encountered when the child first fell; but this one was cocky and powerful. A staggering gush of air shot from the royal guards direction and the fog dissipated, revealing her in her yellow royal guard armor. ‘ _Like she needs the armor… she’s a ghost…_ ’ Curlz stepped back, very intimidated by this; she would have been fine with her own magic… but Xmodblook changed that really quick. “Tell me, Dear. Why is it a monster is helping a human escape the underground?” If Curlz could, she would have gone pale, her sockets went pitch black and she turned her head towards the ground, “Because, last time I checked… we were hunting humans so we can escape. So we can finally be free. If you’re helping a human… that means you don’t want to escape. Which means you don’t care the humans killed Asriel.” A pang of pain shot through Curlz; she clenched her fists and her menu popped up, immediately punching the ‘ATTACK’ option and directing her soul at Xmodblook. The ghost looked surprised when their yellow armor cracked from the attack and then grew enraged, this monster protected monsters and oftentimes spouted off nonsense about being an advocate of Justice for all monsters, but really all she did was show off to get the adoration and attention of other monsters.

 

Xmodblook raised her hand towards Curlz and the ‘FIGHT’ option was selected, but it wasn’t one for Curlz… there were two menu sets. Two menu sets? “NO!” Curlz realized what Xmodblook had done, the monster didn’t fight fair she never did. When Curlz was listening to the ghost heckle her, while Curlz was getting mad about the things the ghost was saying… the Ghost had acquired a new target. She broke free of the faux battle the ghost put her in, and bolted towards the pom the child was hiding behind, racing a bright yellow light that was also heading towards the child with every intent to kill. The kid had such low health from falling; Curlz really didn’t have the money to buy regenerative foodstuffs, and Flambé sold only recreational foodstuffs, one hit from that beam and the kid would be dead. Curlz brought her arm up as she reached the kid and blocked the best she could, her arm begun to burn with an intense pain just as the yellow magic slammed against her, knocking her back and away from the child. Her health didn’t diminish, but she went sprawling… ‘ _How did I do that?_ ’ she asked herself as she slowly pushed herself up from the snow.

 

The crunching of Xmodblook’s armor-clad feet twisted Curlz in the pit of her bones, she had to get up, and she had to fight. She couldn’t be weak, her body thrummed with pain as she moved towards the child “Get away from there, Kiddy!” she yelled out, her voice echoing off the walls of the cave system behind their attacker. Her body went numb as she watched in horror as the royal guard reached down and grabbed the child by their head. “PLEASE!” she gasped and made it to Xmodblook and grabbed the armor-clad arm, “please don’t do this Xmodblook!” she was so weak, and it sickened her; all she could do is continuously select ‘ACT’ and ‘Plead’ over and over again. The ghost was heartless, she stared down at the sobbing skeleton, and while keeping her eyes locked with Curlz eye sockets her arm twisted and a sickening snap echoed through Curlz skull. Her body tensed as she saw the child’s body go limp in Xmodblook’s grip, “You’re a sad excuse for a Monster, Dear. If ever I have a child I pray they’re not as worthless as you.” she snarled and dropped the child’s body, holding only the yellow soul of the child.

 

She turned and left Curlz standing, looking down at the corpse of the small child who had fallen not two days before; something was crawling along her bones as she stared down at them. She trembled and fell to her knees and gripped the little t-shirt of the child’s and sobbed loudly, “k-kiddy… w-wake up…” she scrambled and pulled the child close to her sternum. The child’s blood staining her jacket and she rocked back and forth; yes… it had only been a day or so that she had known the child, but her desire to save them. Her determination to get them to a safe place and see them escape this place had been so strong, that it only amplified her love for the little one. Once again she felt her soul tremble and threaten to shatter… the first time had been when she watched her home shrink the night her mother attacked her… the second time is when Asriel chose the human child over her and let the human speak so cruelly to her… the third time was when she watched her best friend, Asriel, turn to dust in his parents arms… and now. She’d been alive for only a couple hundred years, but these terribly painful feelings were very weighing on her soul.

 

Rising to her feet, holding the child close she hobbled, hiccupping as she sobbed and shuffled towards her bridge. “I-I’m sorry…” Curlz whispered to them as she slid her bloody phalanges across the child’s forehead to get their hair out of their eyes, their eyes still open. She shivered and set the child down near her cardboard bed under the bridge, turning away to the river near her and throwing up blue bile into the river. She shook and sobbed, vomiting over and over while she was digging in the ground next to her bed; she had never hurt so much… she had never been so disgusted with herself before. “I’m sorry” she continued to repeat as she buried the child’s corpse and lay atop it, sobbing wildly. She heard the water’s surface breach as something approached, she knew it was Dynamos, but as soon as he came, he left… knowing something wasn’t right and he should give her space.

 

‘ _Space?_ ’ She thought and curled up tightly and continued to sob ‘ _I have nothing but space… it’s strength… L-LOVE… I need… I need more LOVE… to protect…_ ’ this was her last thought before she passed out. Emotionally and physically drained, she didn’t dream… she simply couldn’t allow herself to forget how she failed the small human child today, if she dreamed she would. She needed to remember her goal… she had to get stronger… she needed… she needed to kill and gain LOVE… so she could save those she wanted to save, so she could find her mother and brothers… and so her father could love her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who are familiar with OpiumPastries' Fic: http://archiveofourown.org/works/5014231/chapters/11523997?view_adult=true
> 
> This one is actually somewhat following behind the scenes in that. A few of the parts in my Fic will directly coincide with his, so please read both to get the full Undertale understanding! :P


	7. KINDNESS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Green as bright as fire...

_Why did they keep falling? Were the humans THAT negligent of their young? Why couldn’t they just stay away…_

The water sloshed quietly next to the boat as she sat solemnly staring into its depths. She had an errand to run for Dynamos, and since he was an Ondine -or some variation of the ancient monster- he fretted going to the area in which his errand took place: The Hotlands. The River Person humming quietly to themselves as Curlz sat in the back of the boat, never having slept since she passed out that day many decades back, ‘ _I couldn’t save them…_ ’ she thought to herself. She had long since buried the child but the sight of watching them die, the sound of hearing their neck crack under Xmodblook’s attack, the feel of their warm blood staining her brother’s jacket that she wore day in and day out… it still haunted her every thought; she couldn’t sleep even if she wanted to.

 

“Tra-la-la beware your intentions may not be so pure to others” the strange monster that transported monsters to and fro on their even stranger boat hummed loud enough for Curlz to hear. Her attention was snapped to the River Person, but before she could ask what they meant by that, they had arrived in the Hotlands. Disembarking from the aft of the boat her shoeless feet sizzled on the hot rock, this is where being a skeleton came in handy; no nerves. She turned to thank the River Person for bringing her all the way here, but when she faced the River Person, all she could see under the dark purple hood was a terrifying glow, she stopped in place, beads of sweat speckling her skull. “You’ve been warned, She-skeleton. What you choose here will seal your fate,” and with that warning hanging in the dry air of the Hotlands, the boat began to float off. Curlz sat, stunned by the River Person’s change in personality, and watched them as they lackadaisically floated out of view. Shivers ran up and down Curlz spine as she turned her back to the river and made her way up the steep slope onto the plateau that branched off into four directions.

 

Curlz pulled a map out of her jacket pocket and hummed softly to herself trying desperately to forget the eerie cryptic warning she just received, “so South is where I came from… West is towards home… East is a stupidly long boring path to the core… and North must be where Dynamos wants me to go.” She rolled the map up again and began her decent towards what seemed to be another boring branching path, just like the East path was. That is, until she nearly fell to her death into a black abyss that was only interrupted by a very tiny speck of bright red at the very bottom; Curlz eyes lit up cerulean blue as she swayed and scrambled back away from the edge. Looking both ways to see if she had missed a turn or something; she stood in shock staring out into the blackness that intimidatingly stared right back. “Wh-what the hell, Dynamos!” She barked, expecting an echo, but the darkness seemed to completely gobble it up. She pulled out the package she THOUGHT she was delivering to someone for Dynamos and snerked loudly “Don’t open it my _patella_! For nearly KILLING me, I’m opening it!” Tearing open the brown paper wrapping of the package she lifted the contents out, and caught a note before it fluttered off into the abyss.

 

“Curlz,

 

I figured you would open this when you came face-to-face with the area I sent you to. I can’t say what I found after researching the letter you say your dad left for you. If I did… I’m worried you’ll jump into the abyss that stands before you. Maybe as I’m turning to dust one day I’ll tell you what it said, but until then, just know you have friends. You don’t need his bony ass. So… I burned the letter. I know, you’re gonna be pissed when you read that, it’s partially why I sent you all the way out there today. But the other part is this… the contents of the package. This is gonna sound dumb, but… when you do my errand for me, you’re going to get jumped. My mom’s treasured pearl is what you’re carrying and if you haven’t guessed yet, she turned to dust and her dust is all over it…”

 

Curlz orbs in her eye sockets shifted from the note to the pearl she was holding in the wrapper and they narrowed “Oh gross!” She shivered and went back to reading the note

 

“…yeah, yeah. I know it’s kind of gross, but it’s my mom, so treat it with respect. Her only wish was to join my dad at the bottom of that chasm. So when she turned to dust, I did the respectable thing and sprinkled her dust on her most favorite object… and now I’m having you complete her only wish. Sorry to bring this on you so suddenly. The monsters that will jump you are Pyroids, like Flambé, but even bigger assholes. They don’t like ‘Ondine scum’ polluting their lava beds. Have a great fight!

 

You’d better live so you can finally fight me!

 

Dynamos”

 

Curlz let out an exasperated sigh; it was at this point she could feel someone… SOMEONES… watching her. She had been training for decades to get stronger, her HP was higher but her LV was still at zero. There was no monster in Snowdin, the Ruins, or Waterfall that she didn’t feel bad about fighting and killing to gain the LV she needed to actually become stronger. Maybe Dynos actually gave her a chance to gain that LV she needed, the doofus didn’t even know it, but he may have just helped her. She closed her eye sockets and hummed softly a mechanical-sounding tune that always popped into her skull when she got into a fight, her arm extending and watching as the beautiful dust-covered pearl fell down into the abyss only to sizzle very faintly in the lava bed below.

 

Then… something very unexpected happened. As she awaited the Pyroids to arrive, she felt a very heavy, very metal, object crash down upon her exposed foot. This is where being a skeleton DIDN’T benefit her, it still hurt like a bitch. Roaring out in pain, Curlz brought her bony foot up and clasped it in her phalanges; hopping around and whimpering… until she heard something that made her soul drop to where her stomach would be. _A giggle_. Her eye sockets widened and lowered until they met the bright green eyes of a small human child. The small human being stared up at the skeleton, clasping a horribly burned metal frying pan to their stained apron-clad chest. The child was probably around the same age as the first human child she had come across those many decades ago.

 

“Hi!” The child’s voice was swallowed by the void that Curlz had been staring into for the past thirty minutes. Curlz slowly lowered her foot to the ground and it let out a soft sizzle as it reconnected with the hot ignimbrite, the white orbs in her eye sockets shrunk and her limbs begun to tremble. Curlz took note that while she was looking at the child, her shadow disappeared and the temperature grew significantly heated, which could only mean one thing. They had arrived. Spinning on her heel quickly only to have her mandible connect with a dark green flame, she stumbled back, concerned about the human child behind her. “Sh-- shoot!” she caught herself from cursing as she felt the child place their hands on her back to stop her from falling on top of them. Curlz brought the sleeve of her jacket to her jaw where it was singed, and wiped the soot away… her cerulean blue heart floating inches from her chest and her HP having been knocked down by ten.

 

Before her stood about fifteen of the cockiest looking Pyroids she had ever seen in her life so far. Then again, Flambé is the only Pyroid she had ever seen prior to this encounter, and he looked like a waiter… or bar tender, not cocky to say in the least. The one that attacked her stood before the rest of them, her arms crossed in front of her, but a dark green heart floating just inches from her own chest. “What’s a Skellie doing in Hotlands?” The female Pyroid asked Curlz as she slowly righted herself so the child didn’t have to support her, “I had an errand. Why the he-” she stopped, glancing back at the human child and clicked her teeth, “-heck… did you initiate a battle with me?” The Pyroid chuckled as the rest of them rippled with the same soft chittering laugh, why were there so many different colors of green Pyroids? They must have been all related in one way or another… ‘wonder if Flambé would be attracted to any of these idiots?’ Curlz questioned in her mind, not really paying attention to the cheap intimidation tactics the Pyroids were attempting with her.

 

“Pay attention!” She heard, but that wasn’t what snapped her from her thoughts. Another fireball that knocked her HP down fifteen more points crashed right against her sternum and she stumbled back, landing on her rear next to the child who only let out a soft gasp and ran to her side. “Skellie okay?” The child asked, touching the smoldering spot on Curlz jacket. Curlz eyes widened, scared the monsters would stop attacking her to attack the child… until she heard a whistle from the attacking Pyroid, “Hey kid! Get away from that. Don’t you know it’s dangerous? Let us just kill the son of a bitch before she tries to take your soul!” Curlz looked at the Pyroid and couldn’t help but feel a sense of respect for her, even if she was attacking without understanding Curlz meant the kid no harm to begin with. The human shook their head, orange locks falling over their shoulders as they did and stood up to face the Pyroid, “Skellie is good, please no more!” Curlz was surprised that the child stood up to the monsters, even more surprising was the fact that the Pyroid selected the ‘MERCY’ option… though apparently a bit reluctantly. “If the kid says you’re ok. Then I have no reason to fight you.” Curlz picked herself up, this was going to be different.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who are familiar with OpiumPastries' Fic: http://archiveofourown.org/works/5014231/chapters/11523997?view_adult=true
> 
> This one is actually somewhat following behind the scenes in that. A few of the parts in my Fic will directly coincide with his, so please read both to get the full Undertale understanding! :P


End file.
